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A breakdown of the propositions on the 2018 primary election ballot
Palm Springs Desert Sun

Eleni Kounalakis, candidate for lieutenant governor in the upcoming election, speaks during a debate sponsored by the Sacramento Press Club in Sacramento, Calif, April 17, 2018.(Photo: (AP Photo/Steve Yeater, FIle))

In California, the Lieutenant Governor has notoriously few responsibilities. In 2009, before being elected to the position, Gavin Newsom, the frontrunner in this year’s gubernatorial race, famously grumbled about the role for having “no real authority and no real portfolio.”

But the small portfolio doesn’t deter Eleni Kounalakis. On Monday evening in Riverside, Kounalakis made her case to be the state’s next Lieutenant Governor by attempting to explain the few responsibilities the position affords and connecting them to issues that have assured appeal among Democratic voters.

At the local electric workers union headquarters, Kounalakis addressed both the Riverside County Young Democrats club and the Riverside County Democratic Party. She highlighted her experiences as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, where she served from 2010-2013, and as a longtime Democratic activist with California roots.

“People always ask me, ‘What does the Lieutenant Governor actually do?’” Kounalakis told county Democrats to open her remarks.

The Lieutenant Governor can’t legislate policy and the office operates on a meager budget of $1.5 million. But even though a majority of the Lieutenant Governor’s responsibilities are ceremonial, Kounalakis spoke enthusiastically about what she planned to accomplish as part of the panels the Lieutenant Governor sits on — the University of California Board of Regents, the Cal State University Board of Trustees, the State Lands Commission and the Commission for Economic Development — if elected in November.

As a UC Regent and CSU Trustee, Kounalakis said she would ensure higher education is a priority in state government.

“I will never, ever support tuition increases as a member of those boards,” she promised. “I’ll work to reinvest a higher percentage of the state’s general fund into higher education.”

In January, the Trump administration proposed opening nearly all offshore waters to drilling, including those off the California coast. The following month, the State Lands Commission resolved to oppose any efforts to bring oil ashore via pipeline. If elected Lieutenant Governor, Kounalakis said she would safeguard the state’s waters from offshore drilling while serving on the commission.

Kounalakis spoke optimistically about her potential role heading the Commission for Economic Development, but acknowledged how, under Gov. Jerry Brown, the commission lacked power because Brown didn’t appoint enough commission members to constitute a quorum and make decisions.

“The reality is that Jerry Brown never appointed enough members of the commission for Gavin Newsom to chair it — a little-known fact about the underbelly of California politics,” she said. “I’ve had great conversations with Gavin Newsom. I’m hopeful that he’s going to chair it and fill it out (the committee).”

Kounalakis spent two decades working for AKT Development, the real estate development firm her father, Angelo Tsakopoulos, founded, while volunteering for Democratic candidates. In 2010, two years after members of the Tsakopoulos family contributed more than $140,000 to the Obama campaign and its associated PAC, the president appointed her Ambassador to Hungary.

In the lead-up to the June primary, the Kounalakis campaign raised $4 million in contributions, and her real estate magnate father contributed another $5 million to an independent expenditure committee that is spending to support her candidacy.

She prevailed as the race’s top vote-getter with 24 percent and, thanks to California’s new top-two primary system, will face off against fellow Democrat, State Sen. Ed Hernandez, in the November midterm elections.

Hernandez, by comparison, netted 21 percent of the electorate in June, has raised $600,000 in contributions and has an independent expenditure committee with more than $500,000 in contributions from health insurance providers and unions in support of his candidacy.

In this March 10, 2016 file photo, State Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-Azusa, urges lawmakers to approve his bill to raise the smoking age from 18 to 21 at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif.(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, AP)

In July, the state party declined to endorse either candidate at their executive board meeting in Oakland. Kounalakis has received endorsements from Democrats with national profiles, including President Barack Obama, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, while Hernandez has endorsements from the state’s labor groups as well as current and former state lawmakers.

As far as Hernandez’s support from a majority of the state’s labor unions: “He’s been around a long time so it was not unexpected,” Kounalakis said.

In her remarks to Riverside County Democrats, she didn’t mention any specific policies, but stressed that, if elected, she would use her platform to advocate for unions, both in the public and private sectors.

“I hope for a renewal of understanding in this current generation going into the workplace, particularly those who may not know the story of organized labor in California,” she said. “That’s what I’m going to be talking about on college campuses and in workplaces across the state.”

Historically, the Lieutenant Governor position has been a stepping stone for politicians with larger ambitions. When Kounalakis offered to answer audience questions, Democratic activist Lanny Swerdlow asked if she intended to run for Governor in 2026.

“I get asked this a lot,” Kounalakis responded. “Gavin Newsom is young and spry and has been waiting to be Governor of California for a long time. He’s not going anywhere.”

Right now, Kounalakis hopes to fulfill the commitments she’s made on the campaign trail running for Lieutenant Governor, she said, but what that means for the future, she declined to say.

“I have no idea what that means in terms of my longevity as a politician,” she said.